Tag chopper



E. E. CHASE ETAL TAG CHOPPER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ATTORN EYS July 30, 1957 Filed Feb. 24. 195s July 30, 1957 Filed Feb. 24, 1956 Fig. 2

E. E. CHASE ET AL TAG CHOPPER 3 She ets-Sheet 2 IVENTORS ERNEST E. CHASE BY WARREN 4L. TIBBETTS www?.

ATTORNEYS July 30, 1957, E. E. CHASE ETAL TAG CHOPPER 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 24, 1956 ATTORNEYS United tates Patent @thee 2,800,958 Patented July 3G, 1957 strasse "rae snoeren Ernest E. Chase and Warren Tibbetts, Beverly, Mass.,

assignors to Craig Systems, c., Danvers, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Appiicationiebruary 24, 1.956, Serial No. 567,569

4 Claims. (Cl. 164-53) This inventionlrelates to tag choppers and more particulariyto apparatus for severing a stub from a tag or the like and simultaneously leaving identification marks on the stub and tag.

A general object of this invention is to provide apparatus for severing stubs from tags or the likein such a way that the stubs will have clean-cut edges and will be substantially uniform in size and shape so that they may be conveniently stackediandfiled. A'further object is to provide safe and repetitively accurate means for chopping stubs from tags and for'simultaneously cutting identification markings in each stub and tag to assist in categorizing, locating and comparing both stubs and tags.

In the accomplishment of these and other objects of our invention in a preferred embodiment thereof, we mount a pair of relatively movable knives in a housing and provide means for moving the knives into shearing relation. An opening is provided in the front of the housing adjacent tothe knives so that tags may be conveniently inserted between the knives for purposes of chopping olf stubs. In order to make sure that the stubs will be substantially uniform in size and shape, we provide a tag-end stop within the housing parallel to the knives. With this arrangement, stubs of uniform sizeand shape may be cut off simply by inserting each tag between the knives, in full abutting relation against the tag-end stop, and by then moving the knives into shearing relation through the area occupied by the tag.

In order tofacilitate filing, categorizing and locating stubs of different categories, we provide mechanism for cutting identifying projections into the edges of each tag and stub at the same time as the stubs are severed from the tags. In the preferred embodiment herein shown, the mechanism is capable of cutting from one to six identifying projections in the edges of the tag and stub so that six different basic categories for tags and stubs may be established, each corresponding, for example, to a given day of the week.

The said identifying projections are cut into the edge of the tag and stub by means of spaced serrations and projections on the cutting knives somewhat similar to pinking shears. These serrations, however, are located only in a short segment near one end of the knives, anthe number of identifying projections cut into each tag and stub depends upon how near that end of the knives the side edge of the tag is placed at the time of chopping. Therefore, in order to insure repetitive performance, it is a feature of our invention that we provide mechanism for preventing the knives from chopping oif a tag unless the tag is in the exact desired position relative to the serrated end of the knives.

Further objects and features of our invention relating more specically to the mechanism for selectively changing the number of serrations to be cut into the edge of the tag and stub, and to other aspects of the invention, will best be understood and appreciated from a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of our invention,

2i. selected forepurposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig; 1 is a view infront elevation of the tag chopper of our'inventionwith various portions of the housing broken away to expose the interior working elements thereof;

Fig.. 2 is a sectional view in side elevation along the lines 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view along the lines 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig.`4 is a fragmentary view of the elements of Fig. 3 in position for operating the cutting knives of the tag chopper; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan viewV of the serrations and projections ou the knives.

In the preferred'em'bodiment of our invention herein shown, theworking elements of the tag chopper are supported by aheavy sheet metal yhousing indicated at il), having a bottom wall l2, side walls I4, a top wall 16, a rear wall 18, and an upper front wall 29. The lower interior half of thev housing 10 is employed to receive stubs of tags which are chopped olf, and a door 22 is hinged to the frontof the housing lli for the purpose of permitting access -to= this lower area of the housing l0. An adjustable guard plate 2d is bolted to the lower edge ofthe upper front walll2tl` and tags are inserted into the chopper through an opening in the front of the housing 10 beneath the lower edge of the guard plate 24.

The mechanism employed for chopping tags comprises a movable knife '26 anda fixed'knife 2S. The fixed knife Zis secured to a'support block 3l? which is in turn secured to angle supports 32 welded in each side wall ld ofthe housing llt The-knife 28 is disposed substantially horizontallyV and remainsin a fixed position relative to the housing l@ during the cutting operation.

The Vknife-Zafonl the other hand, is secured to a vertically movable support block 34 which is initurn carried by a pair of vertical-shafts'ara joined across at their upper ends by a cross head 33; The shafts 36 are mounted for vertical slidingmotion within vertical bearings 37 ina transverse guide block 40." The block'dit) has downwardly extending side portions 41 which are'mounted on the angle supports 32 alongside the support block 30. Thus the knife 26 and the; movable support block 34 are guided in a'fixed vertical'path of motion by the shafts 36 sliding in bearingsin the guide block 4l), and the knife 26 is positioned onthe block 34 so that during the downward travel of the supporting block 34, the knife 26 comes intoshearing relation with the knife 28. In order to promote the shearing action of the knives 26 and 23, the knife'26 is slanted upwardly from' the'horizontal.

The choppingaction of the knives 26 and 28 is accomplished by means of an operating lever .42 pivotally mounted at 44 on the top of the housing 10 and carrying a rounded drive member 46 which enters an-opening 4213 in the top wall 16 of the housing lti'inposition to bear against the cross head 38. With this arrangement a downward force on the operating lever 42 is communicated to the knife 26 through the cross head 38and the other associated Asupporting elements for the knife 26.

In order to maintain theknife 26 in an elevated position during .periodsv of inactivity, we provide a pair of compression springs 50 mounted-on the top of-the guide block 40 and bearing upwardly against the cross head 3S. Thus when the operating lever 42is depressed, the knife 26 travels downwardly against the forces of the springs In Figs. 1-,3 a tag 52 is shown in phantom lines in position to be chopped by the knives26 and 28 for the purposes of 'severing 'a stub from the tag 52.` In order t0 make sure Vthat the 'stubs chopped from the tag 52 will be of substantially uniform size and shape, we provide a tag-end stop k54 within the housing 10, slidably mounted on rods 56 connected to the rear of the movable support block 34 (see Figs. 2 and 3). The tag-end stop 54 is retained in a given position of adjustment on the rods 56 by means of a set screw 58 bearing against one of the rods 56 through one of the two supporting blocks 60 which serve as basic supporting membersfor the tag-end stop 54 on the rods 56. The tag-end stop 54 is curved vertically to receive and center the tag 52, and it extends longitudinally parallel to the knives 26 and 28. In addition, the support blocks 60 serve to hold the tag-end stop 54 in a position parallel to the knives 26 and 28 despite change of position Vof the tag-endstop 54 inwardly or outwardly. In this way a'tag 52 may be inserted between the knives 26 and 28 to a position of full abutment against the tag-end stop 54, and thereafter chopping successive tags 52 will produce stubs of uniform height. It should be noted Valso that the tag-end stop moves downwardly in unison with the movable knife 26. This helps to promote a clean-cut edge between the stub and tag, and also serves to start the st-ub on a downward path into the lower interior of the housing 10. In order to limit access to the lower interior of the housing 10, we provide a locking hasp 62 for the door 22 pivotally connected thereto through a lock 63 in position to swing back of the Xed block 30 and hold the door 22 in a closed position.

InV order to facilitate categorizing tags and stubs as i well as making it easier to compare a given tag with a given stub, we provide mechanism for cutting projections into the edge of the tag and stub at the same time as the stub is being severed from the tag. This is accomplished in our invention by providing the knives 26 and 28 with a short segment of intermeshing serrations and projecf tions indicated at 64. The serrations andr projections substantially resemble pinking vshears in their operation and the small segment 64 containing the serrations andfprojections is located at one end of the knives 26 and 28. Y

In this way the desired identifying projections are cut into the stub and tag adjacent to the side margin thereof and along the cut edge between the tag and stub. Also, the

carrier 68. To this end the plate 66 is mounted on a horizontal plate 76 which `extends across the top of the carrier 68. The plate 76 is secured to the carrier 68 by a set screw 78 threaded to the carrier 68 and communicating therewith through an elongated slot 80 in the plate 76. In this way the said plate 76 may be moved and secured in various positions along thecarrier 68.

Accurate positioning of the plate 76 relative to the carrier 68 is accomplished by means ofV a downwardly extending flange 82 on the front of the' plate 76. The lower edge ofthe ange 82 is provided with a series of serrations 84 adapted to receive an upstanding prong 86 on a plate 88 secured to the front of the carrrier 68 by means of screws 90 and a retaining plate 92. Adjustment is accomplished by loosening the set Screw 78, lifting the plate 76 until the prong 86 is clear of the serrations 84, and shifting it longitudinally of the knives until the prong 86 is lodged in the new desired serration 84. Thereafter the plate 76 is secured by tightening the set screw 78.

It will be understood, of course, that each serration 84 bears a definite spacial relationship on the flange 82 to each of the serrations 64 on the knives 26 and 28 so that when the plate 76 is secured itwill serve accurately to position the plate 66 for the chopping operation.

In order to provide uniformity in counting identifying markings, it is desirable to provide an equal number of projections on both the tag and the stub. For this reason the serrations 84 0n the ange 82 serve to position the plate 66 so that the side edge of the tag is placed accurately at the base between the projections 64 on the knife 28. In Ythis way both the tag and stub will retain a pair of projections on either cut edge. To be sure, the end projection on the cut edge of the stub will constitute only one-half of a full projection, but this does not adversely number of projections cut into the tag may be increased Y Y or decreased by changing the position of the tag along the knives prior to the cutting operation. Therefore, it is essential in the operation of our invention that the tag 52 be positioned accurately longitudinally of the knives 26 vand 28, and that the knives 26 and 28 should be prevented from operating unless the tag 52 is in the precise position desired. We accomplish this by means of a tag positioning limit plate 66 which is supported for lateral sliding motion by a carrier 68 which in turn slidesthorizontally and longitudinally of the knives 26 and 28 in a groove 70 in the support block 30. The carrier 68 Yis provided with a stop arm 72 which extends to the rear underneath the movable knife supporting block 34 in a position to prevent downward travel of the knife 26, but when the carrier 68 is moved, for instance, to Vthe left from the position shown in Fig. l, the stop arm 72 is carried to the side to a position clear of the downward path of the support block 34, thereby permitting the knife 26 to perform its chopping operation.

However, in order to prevent the chopping operation from taking place unless the tag is actually in the correct position, a spring 74 is provided in the groove 70 for the purpose of urging the carrier 68 to the right (as in Fig. l) yunder spring compression. Thus, during chopping, the tag must be held in rm abutting relation against the plate 66 inV order to hold the stop arm 72 to the left and clear of the supportl block 34 before the knife 26 can be moved downwardly. In Fig. 4 we have shown the carrier 68 and stop arm 72 in the chopping position.

. In order to vary .the number of identifying projections `to be cut into `the tag and-stub, we providemeans forY aifect identification. Also it will be noted with reference to Fig. 5, that the projections on the edgeiof the tag will stand upwardly from the cut line between the tag and the stub, while the stub will have deep serrations cut into it with the projections between serrations standing upwardly on the stub only to a position'slightly below the principal cut line between the tag and the stub. Further with reference to Fig. 5, it will be seen that the shapes of the serrations and projections within the segment 64 are alternately round as at 94'and pointed as at 96. We have varied the shape of the projections in this fashion in order to facilitate counting them as well as to make it diicult to duplicate the cuttings by hand in a dishonest attempt to change the tag on goods being returned for credit.

Since the stop Yarm 72 must have ample clearance to permit the free downward passage of the movable knife supporting block 34 and since it is also highly desirable to insure an accurate and uniform height for the identifying projections remaining on both the stub and tag, we provide short longitudinally extending knife edge portions 98 between the projections on the fixed knife 28. Thus when the various elements are in the chopping position, an ample clearance between the stop arm 72 and the movable block 34 may be provided, and the position of the plate 66 may vary slightly without causing the identifying projections on the stub and tag to be of different heights.

It will now be apparent that a stub may be chopped from a tag with the apparatus of our invention by inserting a tag between the knives 26 and 28 in full abutting relationship against the tag-end stop 54,` and sliding the tag to the side against the plate 66 so as to push the carrier 68 and the stop arm 72 to the side until the Stop arm abuts the lower side extension 41 of the guide block 40. In this position the stop arm 72 will be clear of the downward path of the movable knife supporting block 34 and a downward force may be applied to the operating lever 42 which will in turn bring about the chopping action ofthe knives 26 and 28. The stub so severed from the tag will drop into the lower interior of the housing 10,'and will carry the same number of identifying projections between the side edge and serrations on its cut edge as the tag will carry standing upwardly on its cut edge.

Numerous minor variations of our invention will now be apparent to those skilled in the art. For instance, a knife limiting arrangement of the same sort as the sliding carrier 68 and stop arm 72 may also be employed in connection with the tag-end stop 54 in order to prevent the movable knife supporting block 34 from moving downwardly unless the tag is precisely positioned normal to the knives as well as longitudinally. in addition, other variations including changing the shape, spacing and relative heights of identifying projections may be made without departing from the teaching of this invention. Therefore, it is not our intention to confine the invention to the precise form of the preferred embodiment herein shown, but rather to limit it in terms of the appended claims.

Having thus described and disclosed a preferred embodiment of our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Apparatus for cutting stubs from tags and the like comprising: a base; means for cutting a stub from a tag including a pair of knives mounted on said base, and means for moving said knives in shearing relation; means for cutting identifying markings on the cut edge between said tag and stub including intermeshing spaced serrations and projections on said knives located near an end of said knives; and means for positioning said tag longitudinally of said knives in a chopping position including a carrier mounted on said base for sliding motion longitudinally of said knives, a positioning plate mounted on said ,carrier adjacent to said serrations and projections on said knives, spring means for urging said carrier longitudinally of said knives toward the opposite end of said knives from said serrations and projections, and a stop for limiting the sliding motion of said carrier in the direction towards said serrations with said plate in alignment with one said serration, whereby a tag may be placed with its edge against said plate and moved longitudinally of said knives to said chopping position by employing the edge of said tag to move said plate and carrier towards said serrations until said carrier abuts said stop.

2. The apparatus dened in claim 1 further characterized by means mounted on said carrier for preventing the said knives from moving into shearing relation except when said carrier is in position against said stop.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 further characterized by means for shifting the position of said plate on said carrier to bring said plate into alignment with another said serration when said carrier abuts said stop whereby the number of identifying markings on said tag and stub may be varied.

4. Apparatus for cutting stubs from tags and the like comprising: a base; means for cutting a stub from a tag including a pair of knives mounted on said base, and means for moving said knives in shearing relation; means for cutting identifying markings on the cut edge between said tag and stub including intermeshing spaced serrations and projections on said knives located near an end of said knives; and means for positioning said tag longitudinally of said knives in a chopping position including a carrier mounted on said base for sliding motion longitudinally of said knives, a positioning plate mounted on said carrier adjacent to said serrations and projections on said knives, spring means for urging said carrier longitudinally of said knives toward the opposite end of said knives from said serrations and projections; means for preventing the shearing action of said knives including a stop arm mounted on said carrier in the path of said knives except when said carrier abuts said stop; and means for ensuring uniformity of height of identifying markings despite a clearance latitude for said stop arm when said carrier is in position against said stop including a longitudinally extending portion on said knives separating said serrations, and means for positioning said plate in accurate alignment with one of said longitudinally extending portions when said carrier abuts said stop.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 57,205 Sowden Aug. 14, 1866 540,013 Alexander May 28, 1895 703,748 Stimpson July 1, 1902 928,636 Dahly July 20, 1909 1,150,921 Worthington Aug. 24, 1915 

